Paths of Providence - Chapter 2: Baby Girl
Series I Through a Father's Eyes | Chapter 2: Baby Girl Phil struggled to flip the light switch on with his elbow as he walked into his apartment, arms full with two large grocery bags and a baby in the sling he had hastily purchased and assembled. The center island in the kitchen was almost totally filled by the bags and bags of baby supplies he had stocked up on over the past few hours. The teeny baby cooed as he managed to wiggle her out of the sling. Evelyn, he reminded himself, her name was Evelyn and he was going to call her by her name from now on. “Hi Evelyn,” he smiled as he lay her on the blanket in the adjacent living room, “Stay here, okay? I’ve got to put stuff away. Don’t… don’t run off.” She giggled, as though realizing the silliness of the statement just as much as he did. He walked back to the kitchen, but he could see Evelyn staring up at the ceiling from where he stood. As he unpacked the bags and put everything on their proper shelves, his eyes were always partly on Evelyn. Luckily, nothing happened. She rolled back and forth on the blanket, lifting her legs at one point to study her tiny baby toes. She reached up to touch them and then giggled when she almost reached them. Phil found himself smiling as he put away little glass jars of baby food, instant formulas, and the stack of baby care books he picked up. Something nagged at the back of his mind. He had to be forgetting something for her. Mentally, he went through his checklist. The car seat was in his 1983 sedan, her high chair was at the table, there were piles of blankets, towels, and clothing all ready for her and the diapers and wipes were already in the bathroom. It seemed like he had everything he needed to begin raising a daughter. Phil quickly changed into his pajamas and picked Evelyn up in his arms. “Okay, little one. Time for bedtime…oh…,” he paused for a moment as realization dawned on him, “Aw, crap… bed! I forgot to get a bed!” He looked back over his shoulder at the glowing light on the stove. It was 11:35 at night. Chances were good that none of the baby stores were open at this hour. Evelyn babbled gently in his arms, staring sleepily around the room. Working quickly, Phil walked into the bedroom, looking for something that could serve as a makeshift baby bed. His eyes drifted to a large, flat storage container he used to hold his college text books… the ones he had been meaning to drop by the book resale for several years now. It would have to do for tonight. He cleared the books out and stuffed it full of blankets, making a small nest for Evelyn to fit in. She sank into the blankets, still cooing softly. Her soft baby talk was interrupted by a small yawn. Apparently she was happy with her sleeping conditions. Phil dragged the plush armchair from the living room and set Evelyn’s box on top so he could keep an eye on her from the bed. At long last, Phil sat down on his bed, looking over at the dozing Evelyn. His back muscles relaxed as he slid into bed and picked up the first of many books about baby care he had to get through. His eyes kept twitching from his book over to the sleeping Evelyn. Her breathing was slow and even, interspersed with a few small coos. Occasionally her arm or leg would twitch as she settled into deep sleep. Finally, Phil settled into bed. Tomorrow was Saturday. He would have to get up early to get her a crib before naptime. Oh… naptime. Having a kid around would be much more interesting than he thought. Rubbing his eyes, Phil decided he would deal with that when it happened. He would do some reading and see what he could come up with. He drifted off to sleep, barely remembering to turn the lamp off. Phil woke up to a soft cooing noise from the other side of the room. He sat bolt upright in bed, instinctively pulling the gun out from under his pillow and aiming it toward the door of the bedroom. He heard the soft noise again and realized it was Evelyn. She was lying in the plastic tub, considering him curiously with her wide, hazel eyes. They seemed to be taking in every single thing in the room while she sucked on the edge of the blue Sherpa blanket he covered her with the night before. Phil looked at the infant’s frizzy auburn hair sticking up at odd angles and chuckled. Smiling, Phil climbed out of bed and started to make his way to the bathroom. He really had to pee. He barely got to the door before he caught a whiff of something truly foul smelling. Evelyn turned and looked over at him, smiling as she continued to chew the blanket. “Diaper,” muttered Phil, “Oh… shoot!” He picked her up, making a face as the smell grew more potent and doing everything in his power to avoid touching the squishy cotton pouch. He started to head to the bathroom at first but then changed directions to the kitchen. The bathroom counter wasn’t nearly big enough to change her on unless he wanted to put her halfway in the sink. So, in addition to buying a bed, he would also have to get a changing table. Phil put down a towel, wipes, and the bag of diapers. Evelyn wiggled on the towel, looking up at him as if to say ‘well, are you going to do something about this?’ “I’m getting on it,” he replied to nobody, “I’ve just never done this before. I’ve never changed a diaper, much less my daughter’s diaper. Okay… I can do this.” He had the wipes in hand as he undid the tabs on the diaper. A horrible smell wafted up to his nose. Phil took a step back and held a hand to his nose. He had attended some crime scenes… some with decomposing bodies, or charred corpses, or chemical spills that melted flesh from bone. He even had to help clean up a few alien corpses. None of those situations smelled anywhere as near as foul as this diaper. “Oh God,” he tried to catch a breath, however fleeting, of fresh air but it just wasn’t anywhere to be found. Phil gasped for air as he removed and threw away the diaper, wiping her clean. It was such a relief to put the new diaper on. He moved her legs around, checking the fit of the diaper. She squealed and giggled as he touched her tiny feet. Blinking, he tried doing it again and she let out a little shriek of joy. “You’re ticklish, aren’t you?” he smiled as she babbled up at him, “That’s cute!” He scooped her up quickly and spun her around the room. She screamed with joy, laughing and giggling as he set her down on the couch. Her little legs kicked and tiny fists punched at the air. Her little mop of frizzy auburn hair was still sticking out at odd angles. Phil found himself laughing at her morning hair. He then realized that he still had to use the bathroom and it was far more urgent now than it was before. He made sure Evelyn was safely nestled among the couch cushions before racing down the hall to the bathroom. Upon returning, it occurred to him that he would need to get a few further supplies for Evelyn. After breakfast, she was back in her sling and they were in the local mall. Had Phil known years ago that women flocked to him when he had a baby slung around his shoulders, he would have volunteered to babysit his little cousins and take them out for ice cream a lot more often. It seemed everywhere he went, someone was cooing over the little girl. And it may have been his imagination, but she seemed to enjoy the attention as they hurried to the baby store. “Don’t get too full of yourself,” he muttered to her when they had a moment alone, “Eventually you won’t be tiny and people won’t coo over you.” He paused in that line of thought as he looked over the different models of cribs. There were big cribs that looked like they could accommodate triplets, small bassinets with frills, ones with movie characters painted on them, and just about every size, color, or model that you could think of. He looked down at the little girl. “I’m sure you will be beautiful when you grow up,” he corrected himself, “But… you won’t be a baby forever. So… why am I going to spend three hundred dollars on something that I will only use for a year? Christ, they have a racket going on in the baby supply market.” He finally picked out the least expensive crib that still had a passable safety rating. It was simple, white, and looked easy enough to put together. There was also a changing table that was about the same color. The final price tag made him feel a bit sick to his stomach. So be it, if it meant his new daughter had a safe place to sleep. Still, the cost made him wince somewhat as it flashed up on the cash register. “You know,” said the cashier, pulling him from his thoughts in the checkout line,“Since you spent over fifty dollars with us today, you get a coupon for ten percent off your next purchase.” “Well, I guess I am coming to you guys for diapers next week… and probably the week after,” he muttered, digging through his wallet for change. “You can also sign up for our in-store credit card,” she said, eagerly pitching a sale, “It grants you cash back after you make two hundred dollars in purchases.” Phil blinked and then shook his head. Cash back was tempting but credit cards always seemed to trip you up with interest. Not something he wanted to deal with on top of a kid and work. It made him tired, and grateful to be out of the New Mexico heat and dry. That being said, he still had much to do starting with assembling the new purchases. It took most of the morning, but at long last, Phil stepped back to admire his handiwork and wipe the sweat off his brow. The crib and the changing table were assembled, despite having to run to the hardware store twice to get more screws and a new drill bit. Meanwhile, Evelyn had spent most of the morning crawling around on his bed and examining just about every single one of the educational toys Phil had bought for her. She seemed especially taken with the teething rings. Phil turned to see exactly where Evelyn got off to. As it turned out she had coiled up on his jacket and was sleeping soundly right in the middle of his bed. Phil looked at his watch to see how much of the day had been wasted with those projects. Surprisingly, it was only a bit after noon, probably about naptime for Evelyn. She could sleep on the bed while he went and took care of some of the stuff around the house. In the kitchen, he scooped up the little empty glass bottles of baby food and put them in the recycle bin. “That girl eats more than a horse,” he muttered, wiping the counter down, “God knows how long she was out there though… probably malnourished.” Grabbing one of a handful of parenting books, Phil climbed onto the bed, careful not to wake Evelyn. He poked at the diaper, relieved to find it dry. Her little fists held his jacket tightly. Tiny toes curled and uncurled as she slept. At one point she stirred and yawned, but then dozed back off to sleep. Phil kept reading his book, slightly intimidated by all the information being thrown at him. Evelyn would be sitting up by herself fairly soon. Not much longer, she would be crawling. Then she would walk. Little baby Evelyn wouldn’t be a baby forever. His hand lazily ran through her fuzzy baby hair, soft as fluff from a cottonwood tree. They lay, Phil cuddled protectively around his new baby daughter, until Evelyn was done with her nap. It was darn close to a perfect Saturday.